God Loves It When A Plan Comes Together

         

                

Several months ago, our pastor challenged us to memorize the book of Ephesians. Not just a verse or two, but the entire book. When I was young, I could have memorized it in two weeks or less. But I’m getting older. After several months, I’m almost through chapter three.

It isn’t just that my brain is older and slower. It’s that my attention gets caught by different words…different phrases. They stick in my brain and de-rail my rote memorization as my brain attempts to grasp what is really being said. I can say with no exaggeration that Ephesians is currently my favorite book of the Bible.

Did you know that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing…such as the fact that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world!? (Ephesians 1:3-4)

If you don’t think that’s personal and specific, keep reading. I spent weeks on just the first four or five verses. The book of Ephesians is dripping with God’s love for us. For you. For me.

As I struggle to engrave these precious words into my permanent memory, I occasionally find a concept that seems to have many layers. The most recent of these was Ephesians 2:14-22 (ESV[1])

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

“For He, Himself is our peace.” 

I need peace right now. It doesn’t matter what circumstances we face. As believers, our peace can always be found in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. I found that thought incredibly comforting – until a nasty voice in the back of my mind accused, “You’re taking that out of context. That’s not the peace Paul’s talking about.”

Maybe not, I thought rebelliously, but it’s still true.

Paul is referring to the conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles in this passage, and the miracle of love shown by Jesus when He included Gentiles in God’s kingdom through His sacrifice. In our day, we have the opposite problem. We Gentiles have to be reminded that the Jews are also included – if we know any Jews to include. Our culture is not the clear-cut mix it was in Paul’s day. Aside from general racism, I really have to stretch to find a corresponding example in my life.

I had a difficult time with this passage because it seemed too specific to have any relevance for me. Everybody knows the Gentiles are included – why keep harping on it?

“For He, Himself is our peace…and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility…” (vs. 14)

What does that mean? Romans 8:7-8 flitted across my mental screen.

 “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

I sat up a little straighter. Maybe there was a way I could apply these verses in my life.

“For he himself is our peace, who … has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances…” (vs.14-15)

My mind was hostile, at war with God, until Jesus came - as a man - prone to that same hostility, but broke down in His flesh the wall of hostility by living a sinless life and allowing Himself to be slain as a sacrifice, both fulfilling the law and abolishing the “law of commandments expressed in (639) ordinances” – the law that made God impossible to please and left me consumed with guilt, dead in my trespasses and sin. But He abolished it – put a stop to it…

“that He … might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (vs. 16)

What a way to put it! He didn’t just make peace, He killed the hostility. Killed it, buried it, left it in the grave when He resurrected. It is gone. Forever!

“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”(vs. 17)

Then He came and told His disciples about it, and sent them into the world to declare that

 “ … through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (vs. 18)

Both Jews and Gentiles, “us” and “them”, whoever that may be today.

Then Paul reveals the true miracle:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” (vs. 19)

Me? Really? Can it be true?

I, who was once

“…separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (vs. 12)

I am now included among the saints as a member of the household of God. If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, so are you.

This is a household, not a bachelor pad. I find I have come full circle from what Christ has done for me personally, to what He has done for those who are hostile to each other.

I am not allowed hostility toward others because He did not break down the wall of hostility between myself and God only, He broke it down between each of us as well.

“that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,” (vs.15)

His desire for His people is that we would become one. He emphasizes this again and again in the prayer he prayed for us in John 17:22-23

  … “that they may be one even as we are one,  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

He has brought us together for a reason. Returning to Ephesians 2, the household of God is

“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” (vs. 20)

The whole structure…this is not a physical building, Paul clarifies in the next verse:

  “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (vs. 22)

This is the reason for the command found in Hebrews 10:25,

“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We are not islands.

The “church” is not a building, or an institution, or a religious system. It is the act of assembling together.

We gather together as a church to worship together, to learn from each other, to correct each other when we start to get off course, to encourage each other… to love each other.

And in this gathering, a temple for the Lord is being built – a microcosm of the plan set in motion before the foundation of the world. A plan Paul reveals in Ephesians 1:9-10

“making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

One day all of creation will be united in Christ. That unity began in God and continues in us.

We see the moments. We see the brokenness, we see the failures, we see the abuse, and we see the hurt.

But let us not forget the plan God has set forth in His Son.

A plan for eternity, for healing, for victory, for love, for joy…

For His glory.

And it will be more beautiful than anything our human minds can comprehend.

Have faith, hold on to His nail-scarred hands, and accept the spiritual blessings He has prepared for you.

And go read Ephesians - maybe even memorize it. 

God bless!

Jules

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[1] For those of you who know me, I have switched to the ESV – but that is material for a different blog.

Growing Together - It Takes Two

"You know, Julie, when the Bible says to 'obey your husband', it is not referring to husbands who are not following the Lord."

Really?  Whoopee!  I'm off the hook.  Every time I disagree, I'll just decide my husband is not following the Lord!

I Peter 3:1-2*

3 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

Oops.  There went that excuse. Sigh.

Bombarded on every side by independent, worldly thinking, it is incredibly easy to buy into "Christian" feminism: "Only God has the right to tell me what to do!" (Completely ignoring the above scripture.)

However, experience has taught me that God knew what He was doing when He created men to be the head - and women to be the heart in our "becoming one" experience.

Several years ago, the church I had always attended went through a spiritual war.  My husband quietly quit going.  He never asked me to stop, but the Lord convicted me.  If I was going to truly submit and show the reverence the Bible asks of me, I had to let him take the lead.  I reluctantly told my husband I would not go unless he did.  He sighed as if a deep weight had fallen off his shoulders.

I thought he was wrong.  My family thought he was wrong.  The members of the church thought he was wrong.

A year later, a large group split off that church and formed a home church group.  These people had been so badly abused by the controlling new pastor, that my husband and I saw them as a spiritual ICU.

Following my husband, as painful as I thought it was at the time, had actually spared me an incredible amount of emotional injury.

Bringing it home, when was the last time you asked your husband if there was something you could do to please him?  Something he is reluctant to mention?  Ask him why he feels that way.  You may be surprised by his answer, as I have often been.  Once I know what he is thinking, it is often easier for me to yield...or at least have a direction - a discussion starter.

I could stop here, but it seems this is where everyone stops...at the husband's headship. However, the text does not stop here.  While reminding the ladies that the husband is their head, the following verses remind the gentlemen that their wives, their heart, needs something from them as well.

I Peter 3:7

7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

If I could meddle just a bit more?  Husbands, please understand that your wife is an emotional creature. These emotions keep her soft toward you and your children.  They can also make her vulnerable to hurt and deception; easily lured by her love and desire to show mercy.

Once we left the church of my youth, I was lost.  My husband would have been content to build a wall around our home and never leave; completely willing for us to serve God in isolation.  However, understanding me, he saw that I desperately needed the support of other Christians.  We had no idea where to go, but it was up to him to take the lead.  As I bounced in my emotions from group to group, David was our stabilizer.  He kept us moving until we found a place our family could really fit.

If I were to ask one thing of husbands, it would be that they ask their wives what they need for comfort and strength during the hard times.  Women often hide their hurts, and you will either not know, or think they are just in a bad mood.  Sometimes all they need is a weekly coffee date.  A time when they know you will listen, and not write off their concerns as unimportant.

Why bother?

I Peter 3:7b

...so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Matthew 18:19-20

19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

Is there some struggle in your spirit that you have been enduring silently?  Ask God for wisdom and guidance to bring you agreement on the subject.  It may be easier than you think.

The past seven years have been a difficult journey. It has been made easier because, after talking things through, we found ourselves in agreement on many of the struggles we faced.  Often one of us would feel we should take a certain path and be hesitant to mention it - only to find the other was thinking the same thing.

God gave us a promise that two would become one. Like many of His promises it is a process and requires time and discipline to see it fulfilled.

Hebrews 12:11

11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

We, as men and women, have been created completely differently.  It is God's delight to take our differences and weave them into a cohesive whole.  The fruit is worth the growing pains.

God Bless,

Jules




*Normally, I use the King James Version.  However, in this case the ESV states things a bit more clearly.  How can you have a conversation without a word?

Becoming One

We had an interesting conversation the other day, and it gave me fuel for a new post. My husband was skyping and he commented to the brother he was skyping to (a pastor, by the way) that he really appreciated the way we work together as a couple on Bible studies and various things we see in the Word of God. Just out of curiosity (and assuming the brother had the same relationship with his wife), he asked the brother if this was a normal state of affairs. The brother responded with sorrow in his voice that David and I were probably just that way because David had no one else to talk with about the Bible.

Now, anyone who reads my posts knows that I am no feminist. However, I was just a little offended by that remark. I thought, "Oh, so I am just filling in until someone better comes along? I don't think so!"

David was not complaining about our current lack of fellowship; he was commenting on something beautiful that has been growing in our lives. Something we believe God intended from the day he first created a woman. It does not matter how many men David has fellowship with, OUR relationship with God and OUR discussion of the Bible will NOT be sidelined.

From day one of our marriage, we have shared everything we get from the Lord with each other. We listen to each other, refine each other, confirm or reject new ideas using each other's Bible knowledge, and continually grow together. (One definition of being "equally yoked".) Our spiritual life is rich and full when we are working together; sparse and sickly when we try to have a "personal" walk that does not include our spouse. After all, "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3) We use this scripture as an excuse to cut off our brother from fellowship, when the question is in the context of a rebuke on Israel, a curse, and a punishment for Israel's sins.

Wives, if you are not sharing your spiritual life with your husbands, if you show no interest in the things the Lord is showing to him, then SHAME ON YOU! How can you possibly be his help meet if you are disconnected from the most important part of his life? If the "help" you provide is just meals and laundry etc., well, any hired hand can do that... you're just a free servant. There's a word for that.

After all, "And did He not make one?..." (Malachi 2:15 referring to Gen. 2:24)"...and wherefore one? That He may seek a godly seed." Wow! Why is it so important to God that husbands and wives become one? So that the children they raise up will be godly. If the husband is in his study getting one thing from his Bible reading and the wife is at her desk getting something else, and they never put it together, there is a good possibility they will end up on different paths. Sometimes to the destruction of the marriage entirely. Parents are not growing together, the children are not getting a unified message or picture of the Lord, and therefore are more easily led astray because "everybody has to do it their own way, so I'm going to go mine".

The "norm" today is an "every man for himself" philosophy in which no one really agrees with each other and truth is sacrificed for a moment of false harmony. (i.e. "Let's all just get along.") How much stronger could your children be in the Lord if, as they grow, they could hear and later join in the discussions between parents and therefore learn that the Word of God is a growing, living part of their life... that beliefs can change and be refined as we study God's word... and that we can therefore agree with our brother even if we don't see eye to eye because we don't yet know what God may reveal tomorrow as we study and continue to discuss His Word.

My sisters in the Lord, study of the Word of God is not for men only. Women see things differently than men. God made us that way for a reason. Your husband cannot get a full view of the Scriptures without you any more than you can without him. It takes both. We are not just the humble slaves, quietly taking care of physical things so that our husband can get "important" work done. We are, and were created by the God of Heaven to be his "help meet". Let us rise to the challenge.